Leading Locals

23 Dec

Kara | December 23rd,2011 | Retail Rockstars | No Comments »

Last month, I started to experience withdrawal symptoms leaving the routine of daily debits and credits behind. Seeking solace, I found the American Society of Women Accountants, San Francisco Chapter, just in time for an exciting event promoting local, retail businesses.

Prior to attending the meeting, I was overwhelmed by the amount of support and willingness to assist me in transitioning into a slightly different role at Vend. The community on LinkedIn and individuals that I was later able to meet, helped guide me in finding the resources I needed.

I was fortunate to attend the November meeting, that featured a room full of talented, women business owners.

Have a tour and look for yourself at the local talent that surrounds us.

Tina Produce adds delightful designs to an offering of reusable napkins, kitchen towels, totes and tees.

Sweets Collection defines edible art in the most amazing floral designs.

Yes Cookies combines organic, raw and gluten free goodness into delicious snacks.

Sal de Vida Gourmet goes beyond satisfying your salt craving, with flavored salts to compliment your feasts.

Artisak brings handcrafted lamps and other functional art that is often made from recycled items to your home.

Marianne Hale Designs empowers you with inspiring art. Marianne has the ability to connect you with nature.

I rarely can pass up pie, and certainly not one from Milkglass. Have a look through their divine pies and cakes.

Enjoy the fine fashions and unique craftsmanship at Mix & Match. I keep my scarf from them close by, offering warmth in the transition from Florida to San Francisco.

Walking by Magda’s, I found the most delightful bulb ornament earrings that capture the holiday spirit.

As we can never have enough jewelry, Rocksteady Jewelry, brings special crafted jewelry from all backgrounds.

Pretty Little Thing NYC brings east coast style to the west coast with bright colored collections.

I was delighted to find so many wonderful gifts for my family and friends at this event. And a few pieces of art to make my new place feel like home.

Please join me in supporting these entrepreneurs by visiting their stores in person or online.

Do you have some favorite local retailers that save the day with a perfect gift? Please share them below, I’d love to visit them!

Leaving the 941

28 Oct

Kara | October 28th,2011 | Uncategorized | No Comments »

I’ve been relatively quiet all summer. Somehow, Las Vegas decided that battling Legionella Pneumonia was a cool way for me to spend summer vacation.

After recovering, the opportunity to join the company and team that I admire most surfaced. When Vend rang me, I resembled Olive in Little Miss Sunshine for the remainder of summer. Excitedly running through my firm and home to gather my green and make my journey from Florida to San Francisco.

September 15th, I closed my firm, leaving the 941 area code and 941 tax returns.

For those of you who know me, know my passion for the independent retail industry is much stronger than any association with tax or numbers. I have been blessed by so many mentors and predecessors in the field and now I get to move a little closer to the cloud and them. I have the opportunity to work with Vend, growing our partner and customer base here in the US. Translation = I get to do what I love, all day, everyday.

This week, as I finished wrapping up details left unfinished in Florida, I had a chance to reflect on my path here.

I still remember the day in 2004 when I headed to Intuit’s Retail Solution Provider Conference and I quietly entered a presentation room, not knowing anyone. I glanced over at the person to the right of me to offer a smile and my name, as that seemed to be general protocol for these things. I caught a glimpse of his name tag, and before I could reconcile the reality in my head, there came my reaction without any filter. Instead of ‘Hello, my name is …,’ he was the receiver of “OMG! You are Steve Green! I want to be you when I grow up.” I had recognized his name from webinars, books and as the premier ‘go to’ in the retail software world. I am not certain I ever offered my name and was quite content to be known by my new alias, ‘Girl that wants to be Steve Green when she grows up.’

Over the years, I have been blessed to have him and Will English look after me and explain things to me like the difference between a SKU, UPC and EAN.

I don’t know that I am grown up yet, but I now have the opportunity to be geographically closer to them, and some of my other friends in the cloud.

A huge thank you to all of my clients and friends who embraced the solutions I proposed this past year. Working with Xero and Vend completely revolutionized my ability to service my clients. And while it was difficult to leave you, there are some tremendous people that have stepped up to make for a seamless transition.

What is the fate of ‘deductme?’ It is my intention to resume blogging about cool accounting software, apps, and giving unsolicited advice to accountants about social media.

However, in order to do that, I need your help. I have had the privilege of working with so many wonderful people that I have met building my practice with Xero and Vend. End users of both products are looking for your guidance and care in set up, training, accounting and technology expertise. I know that I have many great readers in the financial and point of sale industries that should be considering adding these products. How do I know this? The great comments, feedback and engagement on social media we’ve had this past year.

My experiences working with professionals and advisors of these world class products this past year has been characterized by a strong sense of collaboration and genuine care for the end user.

Consider joining me in the cloud.

Become a Xero Partner.

Become a Vend Partner.

What’s on my iPad? General Business Edition

18 May

Kara | May 18th,2011 | Cloud | 7 comments

The iPad is cool, but how useful is it for business?
I have heard this question posed recently. It leads me to my search of what is the best mix of apps for business?

While I use it daily, it is still very much a work in process. I add and subtract apps over time, sorting out the best for my own use. It takes a bit of patience to balance ease, functionality and not duplicating services.

How to decide which apps to use?
I have two primary methods of discovery:
1.) Go from what I know — I first turn to what I am most familiar — I choose products born out of the desktop family I use and look to the app store to see if it is there.
2.) Listen to those we trust. I find the best apps through friends, colleagues and personalities on social media.

Here are the primary apps that I am currently using daily for business:

Evernote – Tops the charts as my favorite app. It is hands down the best for capturing thoughts, notes, items and snippets to be read. It has helped me to replace a lot of “should” in my speech with “am.” A year ago I said, “I should write a book.” Today, I can say, “I am writing a book.” I just stumbled upon the coolest “Did you know?” Did you know that if you follow @myen on Twitter (that is at My Evernote) – you can DM (Direct Message) tasks and tweets to your own Evernote?
Mobile Me – continues to be one of my favorite methods of exchange. With a Mac operation, it truly proves the most effective way of updating my calendar, synchronizing data and transferring documents.
iAnnotate PDF – I have been using this application to mark up and highlight .pdf documents. It plays well with DropBox, and I have been using it in conjunction to transfer updated files. For the non integrated, the document can be emailed.
OmniFocus – While other apps are capable of creating ‘To Do’ lists, I tend to gravitate to this app for my scheduling. Sorry Windows fans, this one is a Mac Only.
DropBox- has a great app for the iPad. As is true on the desktop, it just plain works.
Speed Text – I’ve tested several ‘finger as a stylist’ apps and I tend to like this one the best. Also, it integrates with my fav, Evernote.
Sign and Send – This is the app that I stumbled upon for signing documents.
QuickOffice – For my friends still tied to Microsoft Office®, this app allows for easy editing in Office® documents.
LogMeIn Ignition – I use LogMeIn to access my own computers and provide tech support to customers – this app also has a file share feature.

My main method of evolving and perfecting the process is one word: Use.

Strike a balance between selecting an app and using it, all the while continuing to be open to new ones. In this ever changing environment, you cannot get too attached. Accept that one app may satisfy two or three apps that you have been using. Not to say that you must app jump, but be open to evolution on the app combination on your iPad and do not get cornered into an app by emotion and be compelled to hang on to it because you started with it.

Talk to me. What are you using? How are you making it work in your industry? Have one that you think tops my selection? Please share.

Back to School

01 May

Kara | May 1st,2011 | Cloud | 2 comments

When April 18th was approaching, I was already looking to fill the extra hours I would soon be enjoying.

Every decade since undergrad, I seem to succumb to a magnetic pull toward returning to school. As my family can attest, if I could find a way to make life as a professional student profitable, I would. Much to their relief, this decade, the coursework and program I am choosing to pursue is in a related field. The entire program is also online.

Quite a bit has changed since I last attended school. I consider myself relatively tech savvy, but had some humbling moments getting started.

Registering near the final bell, the professor was kind enough to forward me the first email explaining “What to Expect.” The email indicated that reading materials and homework assignments would be sent in the upcoming week.

As the first day neared, and fearful that it would mirror that of Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde, I started a hunt for the email instructions. I could not find anything remotely resembling an assignment.

I went back and carefully reviewed the initial email and dug deep down for my lessons learned from Sesame Street — of ”one of these things is not like the other … one of these things just isn’t the same…” I noticed that everyone else on the email chain had a ‘school email address’ except me. Hmmm…wonder how I get one of those? I went on a brief search and sure enough, there was my new address and plenty of ‘unread’ messages and assignments.

The discovery was timed with Easter Sunday. Panic set in that I had family to visit and still manage to read a couple hundred pages of exciting state tax material and cases.

Cue the iPad. I downloaded all of my assignments and opened them in an annotate program to read, mark and highlight.

Not certain if it was the adrenaline of being a week behind, the thrill of being able to tote my text around with me and save my shoulders, or if I am really that geeky that I found stories about nexus, sampling and state case law so gripping … and I actually managed to read my entire assignment and was ready to join in the discussions.

On to the discussion boards. Years ago, when I had to take a few online courses to bring my northern education in line with the southern requirements to obtain my CPA license, I had the fortune of participating in an online class. I reveled in the fact that my classmates at the time could go on at length about off topic posts, some quite personal in nature, only to score higher than myself in participation.

I am pleasantly surprised that this time, things are much different in the discussion boards. The leadership of the professor has kept us on topic and brief. My fellow classmates appear to be focused and each offer applicable experiences, insights and raise engaging questions.

I am looking forward to a great series of classes and now that I have sorted out the technical logistics, am hoping to stay on track.

Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I am off to gym class.

Field of Dreams

05 Apr

Kara | April 5th,2011 | Cloud, Point of Sale | No Comments »

Over the past week, I have been talking to customers, friends, and colleagues about online accounting systems and industry solutions. Given the season, and all of the chatter, I thought that I would introduce the solutions that are making my job easier in terms and the spirit of baseball.

ACCOUNTING

Xero - Home Plate — Your financial accounting solution with a solid base. The focus is on cash flow and reporting. The platform lends itself nicely to communication with your accountant and other members of your team. There is the ability to leave notes for internal use, leave unknown transactions in a reconciliation for further review and generate reports quickly and easily. Xero works well for some as a stand alone accounting solution, or plays well with others for those needing additional features.

WAREHOUSE AND INVENTORY

Unleashed – Outfield — Do not be fooled by the fact that this may be the first that you are hearing this name. This part of the team has been playing for several years. Advancing from the minors, their latest feature release has me convinced that they are in “the Show” to stay. An online inventory management system that is a perfect compliment to Xero. This product accommodates Sales Orders, Purchase Orders, Receiving, Stock Control, Sales and Transfers to Multiple Warehouses. Yes, that is right, keep track of stock in multiple warehouses and pull meaningful reports online. When transactions occur, the data is ready to move to Xero to keep proper track of inventory and cost of goods sold on your financial statements.

RETAIL

Vend – Infield — A Point of Sale solution that is stopping ground balls and running down independent retail problems. Vend is quickly becoming a favorite of multi-store retailers due to the lightening speed at which we can transfer stock between stores. The daily, independent retail tasks of ordering and receiving stock; keeping track of inventory; ringing up sales; taking payment; and closing out the registers at days end, are effortless. Send the days summary of sales over to Xero to round out your financial reporting.

INVOICING

Freshbooks – Pitcher – This is my own, personal fast pitch in recent weeks. Invoicing done painlessly. Anyone who sporadically receives invoices from me — you received them last week in record speed, didn’t you? Again, this program works well as a stand alone solution or integrated with Xero.

It gets even better. Home field advantage is EVERYWHERE. The above solutions knock down road games as easily as home games. No matter the hardware, your data is available. All invite teamwork with the ability to review the data file simultaneously.

Ready to give them a try? “Put me in coach….I’m ready to play….”

Negative Inventory – A Non-Technical View

16 Mar

Kara | March 16th,2011 | Point of Sale | 5 comments

Ladies and Gentlemen:
I would like to introduce you to my new favorite piece of flair … the Superpower Ring

Acquiring her was not easy, as I set eyes on her when she was just a twinkle in the point of sale system’s eyes. While visiting one of my favorite stores, Silver Obsession, I caught a glimpse of her inside the packaging.

Despite my plea to purchase immediately, Owner, Leslie McKnight, insisted I wait until she was received into inventory.

Curses. Even the Superpower Ring cannot fight the effects of negative inventory for the long term.

Anyone that has had me review their file knows that I do not hold back when I see “-” preceding a stock item.

I typically can get past the logic defied here: If you don’t have it, how can you sell it?

Plenty of my peers have written brilliant technical articles on how it destroys the cost of goods sold in an average costing model.

Additionally, negative inventory has a tendency to compromise the integrity of the data file. Do not believe me? Call tech support with negative quantities looming in your file and let me know how far you advance in the call.

“But, Kara, you said …” Yes, I know my golden rule with every retailer – If a customer wants to give you money, we will stop everything and make that happen.

My issue is not with running stock negative on the occasion that it is standing between you and someone’s impulse buy. If a process is in place to rectify the negative situation shortly after the transaction, I can accept it. My issue is that it has a lot to do with habit. We tend to get in the habit of selling negative and do not develop a habit of correcting the levels the same day.

So tell me, are there other reasons for selling negative? Or, tell me what you think of the Superpower Ring. I took about 30 pictures of her, so I think she may find her way into a POS adventure series….if you don’t like her, speak now …

You Can Take It With You

24 Feb

Kara | February 24th,2011 | Cloud, Point of Sale, Social Media | 2 comments

The road just got a little easier to travel …

With financial software such as Xero

With Point-of-Sale software such as Vend

With Payment systems like Bill.com, Paypal, Square and Dwolla

… you can take your data file with you. I do not mean taking it with via a back up, restore, and a flash drive. I mean, take your mobile device and you are good to go. Want to see living proof?

Read how Deep Sky Accounting braved the elements with this awesome article.

See how Jason Blumer helped us all use social and accounting in the same sentence.

What does this mean for the Independent Retailer?

This means that you can take your business to the streets with ease. You can represent your business at the craft shows, the fairs, and festivals — without entering data twice.

This means that you can head to a trade show and generate purchase orders on the spot.

This means you can take payment without bringing the “Fred Flintstone” credit card machine with you to make a carbon imprint of someone’s credit card using the metal plate and a rock.

No workarounds.

Do you have a mobile device? Yes.

Do you have Internet service? (note: there are countless mobile Internet services). Yes.

No excuses.

What are you waiting for … let’s go.

Sharing is caring. Circulation of this post, Get Ready, The Big Bang Theory, Do What, Social Learning all go toward contributing to the relief funds for the victims of the Christchurch earthquake. The folks of New Zealand have helped to further many of our efforts in accounting. We want to be able to give a little bit back in return.

Finally, apologies that I have had difficulty today with hyperlinking. Once I have an opportunity to address my database – links will be cleaner. Thanks for your patience today and your support.

Leading Locals

Leaving the 941

What’s on my iPad? General Business Edition

Negative Inventory – A Non-Technical View

deduct me

Software, SaaS and Social Media

Software, SaaS and Social Media

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